TDL Pathology Website - Cross Reactivity

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Cross Reactivity

Individuals with reaction to specific allergens to foods, inhalants or substances can be known to develop allergy to others and it is becoming better recognised that reactions are occurring to different foods containing either the same allergen, or an allergen with a very similar protein structure. Reactions can be either light or heavy and this is known as allergic cross-reactivity.

This means that someone may suffer an allergic reaction even when they’re avoiding the foods they know they’re allergic to. If someone is allergic to peanuts, for example, they might react to soya, peas, lentils or beans which are food items in the same biological family (legume). Allergic cross-reactions can also happen between certain fruit or vegetables and latex (known as latex-food syndrome), or the pollens that cause hayfever.

If a person has a measurable reaction to a certain food with clinical diagnosis, advice to avoid similar foods that could trigger this reactionmight be helpful.

The most well-documented cross-reactivity is the one which occurs between apple and birch pollen. Nevertheless, individuals allergic to apple are not necessarily allergic to birch pollen. Cross-reactivity should not be assumed and important foods be eliminated from the diet without appropriate testing and clinical diagnosis.

ALLERGEN	CLINICAL RELEVANCE	FREQUENT OCCURENCE	POSSIBLE OCCURENCE
Aniseed	Light	Mugwort	Birch, weeping
Apple	Medium	Birch, weeping	Celery Cherry Cocksfoot Mugwort Peach	Pear Potato Ragweed, common Rye-grass Tomato
Alder Pollen	Medium		Almond Apple Celery Cherry	Hazelnut Parsley Peach Pear
Ash, Common	Light	Birch, weeping Lilac, common Olive	Privet, common Ragweed, common Timothy
Avocado	Medium	Latex	Banana Kiwi
Banana	Heavy	Latex	Avocado Birch, weeping Goose-foot Kiwi Melon
Bermuda Grass	Light	Blue grass, (Kentucky) Cocksfoot Reed, common Ryegrass, perennial Timothy	Celery Olive Rape, oilseed Rye-grass Sunflower, common
Birch pollen	Medium		Almond Apple Apricot Buckwheat Carrot Celery Cherry Coriander Fennel Hazel nut Honey Kiwi Nectarine	Parsley Parsnip Pear Peach Peanut Pepper Plum Potato Prune Spinach Walnut Wheat
Birch, weeping	Heavy	Apple Ash, common Beech, common Carrot Celery Chestnut, sweet Cob, hazel Curry Hornbeam, common Kiwi Oak, English Pear Tomato	Aniseed Banana Elm, Scottish Caraway seed Chamomile, German Cherry Coriander Fennel seed Hazelnut Latex Lychee Mango	Mugwort Olive Orange Paprika, condiment Parsley Peach Pepper Potato Rape, oilseed Rye-grass Soy beanTimothy
Carrots	Heavy	Birch, weeping Celery Mugwort	Cucumber Head Lettuce Mango Melon
Cherry	Light		Birch, weeping Apple Peach
Chicken Egg	Heavy	Canary (serinus canarius) Chicken Duck, domestic Goose, domestic Hen, domestic Parrot, African gray (psittacus erithacus) Parakeet (nmphicus hollandicus) feathers Parakeet (Melopsittacus undulatus) Pigeon
Cocksfoot Grasses	Heavy	Bermuda grass Blue grass, (Kentucky) Melon Oat flour Rye flour Ryegrass, perennial Timothy Vernal grass, scented	Apple Meadow, fescue Oats, common Reed, common Rye-grass
Cod Fish	Light		Carp Eel Herring Mackerel Plaice Salmon	Sole Tuna fish
Corn	Light		Barley Blue grass, (Kentucky) Millet Oats, common	Soy bean Ryegrass, perennial Rice Wheat, common
Crab	Light		Oyster Shrimp Squid
Cucumber	Light	Celery	Carrot Melon
Curry Mixed Spices	Medium	Birch, weeping Celery Mugwort
Edible Chestnut	Medium	Latex
Fennel Seed	Light		Birch, weeping Celery Mugwort
Grape	Light		Peach
Grass pollen	Medium		Melon Orange Swiss chard	Tomato Watermelon Wheat
Hazelnut	Heavy	Cob, hazel	Birch, weeping Kiwi Mugwort Peach	Poppy seed Rue flour Sesame
Kiwi Fruit	Medium	Birch, weeping Latex Timothy	Avocado Banana Hazelnut Mugwort	Poppy Seed Rye flour Ryegrass, perennial Sesame
Latex Rubber	Heavy	Avocado Banana Edible Chestnut Ficus benjamini (Tropic laurel, Weeping fig) Kiwi Mango Melon Papaya Tomato	Apple Birch, weeping Buckwheat Carrot Celery Dill Fig Mugwort Orange Oregano Passion fruit Peach	Peanut Pear Pineapple Potato Ragweed, common Rye-grass Sage Soy bean Strawberry Timothy Walnut
Lentil	Light		Pea Walnut
Lychee	Light		Birch, weeping
Melon	Medium	Celery Cocksfoot Latex Ragweed, common	Banana Carrot Cucumber Goose-foot	Plantain, English Zucchini
Mugwort pollen	Medium		Carrot Celery Coriander Fennel Melon	Parsley Pepper Spices Sunflower Watermelon
Onion	Light		Asparagus Garlic Timothy
Orange	Heavy		Birch, weeping
Papaya	Light	Latex
Paprika Condiment	Light		Birch, weeping Celery Mugwort
Pea	Light		Lentil Mugwort Peanut
Peanut	Heavy	Tomato	Latex Lentil Mugwort Parietaria	Pea Peach Soy bean
Pear	Medium		Apple Birch, weeping	Mugwort Peach
Pepper	Light		Celery Birch, weeping Mugwort
Pineapple	Light		Latex Rye-grass
Poppy Seeds	Light		Hazelnut Kiwi Rye flour
Pork	Medium	Cat, domestic
Potato	Light		Apple Birch, weeping	Latex Tomato
Ragweed pollen	Medium		Apple Banana Cantaloupe Chamomile tea	Honey Honeydew Nuts Sunflower Watermelon
Tomato	Light	Birch, weeping Peanut Rye-grass Timothy	Apple Celery Latex Mugwort Potato
Walnut	Light		Peach